An American emergency room doctor faces charges of female genital mutilation on girls between the ages of six and eight.
Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, Michigan, is accused of carrying out the procedure for 12 years from a medical office in Livonia, Michigan.
Prosecutors said some of Nagarwala's alleged victims came from outside the state and were warned not to talk about what had happened to them.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco said the doctor was alleged to have performed "horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims".
He added: "The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse."
Acting US Attorney Daniel Lemisch added: "The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law."
Nagarwala appeared in a US federal court on Thursday and was remanded in custody until at least Monday, according to a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office.
Female genital mutilation of children has been illegal in the US since 1996 and Nagarwala faces a maximum sentence of life in jail if she is convicted.
The first recorded case in the US was in 2006, when an Ethiopian immigrant in Georgia was jailed for 10 years after he was found guilty of sexually mutilating his two-year-old daughter with scissors.
No comments:
Post a Comment